RVS LINE (Sacramento)

Ok, here goes... I am letting it all out there for drivers who need the inside scoop on these guys, so be warned, this is long....

I was forced to make a fast decision to get back to work after SWIFT terminated me(which is another story I won't discuss) and went to work for these people. For those who haven't seen my prior posts, I encourage you to search for them, but I will touch on a few highlights in no particular order, keep in mind that my goal here was to get some time after my last incident with SWIFT and GTFO:

Company policies
• Primary to the list that follows is: During the week of March 24, my dispatcher insisted that I continue on route after the truck was placed out of service for a mechanical issue (an overflow fuel leak caused by a foreign object in the fuel system). This problem went unrepaired until after the load I was responsible for was delivered and my next 34 hour reset. I reminded him that I had no drive time left that day, but he continued to demand that I drive for another 5 hours under the same perceived threat. A similar demand was made 2 days later. My logs for that week include 3 days’ worth of TOTAL FABRICATIONS! He threatened that if I didn’t follow his directives, he would see to it that I was terminated. I am sure you are aware that this is illegal and grounds for a wrongful termination suit. If caught (or worse, had a collision), I would have been fined more than $2500, and RVS would have also been fined an additional $11000 for each occurrence.
• I arrived back in Sacramento on April 17th for some home time. Since it was a Sunday, I returned on Monday to close out the truck and submit the proper paperwork. At that time, I voiced my concerns as I have listed above, since they represented a significant liability in terms of safety; I felt it was important that RVS was aware of these issues. To my knowledge, RVS has done nothing on their end to prevent these issues from continuing. My planned home time was supposed to only last so I could be home for the Passover holiday; however, when I planned on returning to duty, my calls were left un-acknowledged. It was not until May 2nd that I was told that I had somehow been removed from the company insurance policy, without an explanation. I do not know when I was removed, how long they knew, or when I was going to be told. I do not believe for a second that they told me the same day they were informed. What really bothers me is that my former co-driver, actually did have a collision with a stationary police car(absolutely preventable and his fault, I would not have made thecsame decisions that led to it), and he was not removed from the policy; yet I did nothing that would warrant it and I was the one that was removed. Not only that, he was rehired after resigning (WTF?)!
• Company drivers are actually independent contractors / owner operators, without withholding taxes, social security, or unemployment, or any other “benefit package”.
• Withholding money from payroll to cover an insurance deductible that should not be the responsibility of the driver.
• Withholding money for a CDL defender program, not only after the company scraps it’s use, but without asking the driver if this is something that he wants, or providing information about it. In my opinion, CDL is a good program and should not have been scrapped. Had I been asked about this, I would have approved it; however I was not even consulted.
• Pay settlements substantially not itemized to show pay for mileage, layovers / detention pay, multiple stops, or reimbursement for expenses paid out by driver outside the use of the EFS card or checks.
• We saw no layover pay for the following in no particular order :
 We were laid over in New Jersey when we were asked specifically (by the broker) if we could deliver to a recipient before 1/1/16. On this trip, we arrived nearly 36 hours before the date on the customer bill of lading, yet were turned away 4 times between our arrivals and actual unloading. During that time, we were asked to help another team complete their load when they were stuck with mechanical problems needing repair. We should have received detention pay for each time we were turned away at the recipient, regardless of the time spent when we were asked to help the other team.

 We were laid over again in Colorado when we were involved in a collision and we were stuck for 3 days before Vito arrived to complete the repairs. We were not offered or authorized to check into a nearby motel while we waited in the cold. I am owed $300 for that as well as the amounts itemized below.


 We were also laid over in Washington over the Christmas holiday for 3 days behind a closed road (Again, this is another 3 days we were laid over, so I am owed another $300).


• Pay methodology: Pay is based on mileage generated by Google Maps. It is a well-known fact that Google Maps does not generate routes that are authorized for the weight, height, length, or number of axles of a commercial vehicle. Another factor to be considered is that Google does not exclude roads with those limitations. All dispatchers should be provided a truckers atlas and GPS unit so that actual miles could be used and travel time could be better estimated. Most drivers only use Google maps to look at a destination to determine best access points on satellite view.
• A dispatcher assigning loads without knowing if the driver(s) can complete the load as scheduled. Other considerations should include, whether or not the assignment can be completed within the amount of time remaining on the 70 hour clock, or if a 34 hour reset will be needed to complete the task at hand. It should be noted here that these issues never happened to me in my prior position.
• Going forward, it is my belief that it would be beneficial for all dispatchers to accompany an RVS driver for a week in order to have a better understanding (preferably during winter months, when the driving conditions are the most diverse) on the road. Once this is in place dispatchers will have a better understanding of the obstacles drivers are faced with on a daily basis. An alternative to the on-the-road dispatchers training, would be to terminate and replace with those who have DRIVING EXPERIENCE. I am sure you would agree, providing your current dispatchers on the road training, is the easier fix.

Pay discrepancies
• Company website(http://www.truckdriverjobsacramento.com) and a recent posting on Craigslist (oddly enough, this was changed in the Craigslist postings since), indicates the following:
o Layover $100/day; in addition to the layovers listed above, between 3/26 and 3/30, I was laid over for 4 days either waiting for a repair to be completed, or my next dispatch in N. Stonington, CT $400 is still owed. On 4/9 and 4/10, I was laid over for an additional 2 days in New Caney, TX. $200 is still owed. Both layovers were after the completion of DOT mandated 34 hour reset breaks. $600 is still owed for these layovers.
o Extra pick-ups/drops (stops) beyond 1 each at $50 each. The following trips were not paid properly, if at all:
 Trip 3817, 3 additional stops ($150), not paid (settlement 6196, net difference: $150).
 Trip 3857/3865, 3 additional stops ($150), not paid (settlement 6298, net difference: $150).
 Trip 3823, 2 additional stops ($100), paid $50(settlement 6232, net difference: $50).
 Trip 3847, 1 additional stop ($50), not paid (settlement 6329, net difference: $50).
 Trip 3906, 7 additional stops ($350), paid $150(settlement 6367, net difference: $200).
 Trip 3913/3938/3943, 6 additional stops ($300), not paid (settlement 6384, net difference: $300).
 Trip 3992/4014/4017, 5 additional stops ($250), not paid (settlement 6468, net difference: $250).
 Trip 4066, 1 additional stop ($50), paid $25(settlement 6534, net difference: $25).
 Trip 4119, 2 additional stops ($100), paid $75(settlement 6570, net difference: $25).
 Trip 4181, 6 additional stops ($300), paid $150(settlement 6624, net difference: $150).
o The total net difference for these additional stops is $1350.
o I did not receive pay or settlement statement for trip between San Diego and Tracy, Ca (Safeway DC was recipient).

Dispatch
• There is a habit of telling drivers to head in a “general direction” without specific details that should include, but are not limited to: load origin; load destination; pickup time; requested delivery time; and cargo description. These are in addition to any further instructions regarding the cleanliness of the trailer and precooling the trailer for refrigerated loads. More than once the destination addresses have been at a different location than directed. Sometimes the load gets totally cancelled, after DOT clocks have started and the driver(s) are well on the way to the instructed destination in order to arrive in a timely manner. This is a waste of fuel and an ineffective way to use driver’s time. On one occasion, we proceeded as instructed to Sparks, NV which was more than 2/3 of the way to our destination. At that point we were told that the load was cancelled. Having no safe place to turnaround, we proceeded to the nearest safe place, which was a truck stop in Sparks. This wasted an entire drive shift. Alex complained that we went too far when he had been informed where we were. Another occasion, we were directed to Yuma, AZ. We were within 1 hour of arriving in Yuma, we were directed to Coachella, nearly 2 hours in a different direction, only to be returned to Yuma as the next leg of this assignment. While this is not as problematic for a team driver when the situation is easy, it us still wasteful, unfortunately there is not always a safe place to complete this task. Drivers need to pull over to the side of the road long enough for drivers to switch seats, when needed. This is much more problematic for a solo driver who needs a safe place to stop for a 10 or 34 hour break without getting into an hours of service violation. When driving solo, I am familiar with steps to be taken to choose safe places where I could get fuel, park, eat, and take a shower before my rest break expires and I need to get back on the road. I accomplish this by planning my first stop on route during the 5th hour of driving for my meal break, and before leaving from my meal break, planning my 10 or 34 hour stop during my 10th hour of drive time that day, also on route. Often, this may also mean calling ahead to the chosen safe place to pay for reserved parking, which should be a reimbursable expense, or one payable with the company fuel card due to the shortage of available free parking at certain peak times.
• There is also another habit of promising brokers or customers delivery times that are not realistic without consulting the drivers to determine what could be reasonably expected. These promises have made us late on multiple occasions. I am well aware that this is easily accomplished with a competent dispatcher. There also seems to be an inability or refusal to schedule appointments to better mesh with realistic estimates of arrival times and DOT mandated breaks. On one trip, several appointments needed to be rescheduled when I arrived so far ahead of schedule, to deliver based on schedule meant that said breaks would be interrupted generating a violation of hours of service, and I could not deliver early.
• Trip routing has been questioned, on one occasion, we used a route he suggested, but ran into potential legal problems when we encountered portions of the route where our cargo was overweight for, which is a ticket able offense with a fine of at least $250.
• Another situation involved us needing to reroute in order to circumvent a road closed due to a rock slide. This change brought us through areas with safe speeds/posted speed limits of less than 35 MPH for significant periods. More than one dispatcher has questioned speed of travel, any time the speed drops below 55mph, it is either because there is a posted speed limit that is lower, or the situation (road conditions) does not allow driving at that speed (it's not rocket science, is it?).
• Doubt has been shown when we had to make certain decisions for safety reasons. On one trip, we were caught behind a closed road and were lucky enough to find a safe place to wait it out. We did eventually get rolling again. However, since this was a holiday weekend, we decided to wait because we could not confirm that anyone would be at the recipient’s locations. This suspicion was confirmed, when we rolled out on those instructions and arrived to a location where they were closed. We were lucky again when an employee came up just to retrieve some boxes. Another occasion we encountered involved a severe snowstorm. We stopped for a safety check (we needed to make sure that the rear facing lights were clear of snow / ice buildup) and a restroom break. In the hour after that stop, we encountered 7 situations where there were accidents requiring law enforcement assistance, including 2 CMV’S either off the road or on their side. We called and informed dispatch that it was unsafe for us to continue and we would find a safe place to stop for the night. While he indicated that he understood the situation, we got the distinct feeling that he didn’t like it since it put a promise he made at risk.
• Dispatchers fail to realize that when he talks with one team member, he is speaking with both. When a team member communicates with him, the team members have, more likely than not, discussed the matter with each other and are in agreement. This communication involves text or email messages as well as telephone conversations.
• We were asked to restock some freight that had shifted without paying us or considering the liability if we somehow got hurt doing something outside our job description.

By my calculations the total I am owed is $3100 plus pay from the last trip ending in Tracy, CA as follows:
1. $1350: additional stop pay corrections.
2. $1200: unplanned and unpaid layover outside DOT mandated break times.
3. $420: security deposit (insurance deductible, less the cost of a roadside repair I caused).
4. $300: documented and unreimbursed out of pocket expenses incurred since date of hire.
5. $30: CDL Defender.

I have filed a complaint with the FMCSA / DOT for the hours of service violations I was threatened to make, which is being investigated(but I don't believe I will ever know the outcome) and the maintenance issues leading to safety liabilities. Because they failed to acknowledge or correct my payroll issues, I filed a complaint today with the California Department of Labor and have told them that I will withdraw the complaint when they pay what they owe me.

I am heading out Sunday for orientation with another company on Monday, 6 months has passed since I signed on with these fools.

 

My point is that I think any ethical driver should avoid these idiots at any cost.

 

Very funny.... having a sister and brother in law with 40odd years in fast food between them, I am not doing that. But it is good to know that there are drivers who are willing to risk their licenses, lives and the lives of others and put up with the kind of crap I had to. If that's you, by all means, go work for them..... my only wish has two parts: I would like to kniw about any findings from the FMCSA complaint, and that I can cause them to lose business for it.

 

Uh..... no, I never was connected to CRE... Was terminated by SWIFT for their claim of preventable incidents that were not reportable and I dispute their decision on all but one incident. I then went to RVS and had all these problems. Like I said, my thought was to put some time/miles in since Swift and GTFO. On a monthly basis since signing with RVS, I was working on creating an opportunity for my other foot to land before jumping ship, I proverbially had one foot out the door since day 1; and since my last year as an apartment manager when I was collateral damage at my last 4 properties, I have come to hate changing jobs (so I changed careers).